Culture

2+2=5 When Complementary Campaigns Succeed

September 25, 2017

In 2016, while working as creative director at the agency Richards Lerma, I helped develop a campaign for Avocados From Mexico that was recently awarded a Gold Sun at FIAP 2017. The project gave us a chance to execute a pretty unorthodox idea, and I’ve been thinking recently about why it was so successful.

Our objective was to create a digital campaign that would complement a TV commercial for Avocados From Mexico that was set to air during Super Bowl LI. The commercial began with the meeting of a secret society – the secret society that’s responsible for all the conspiracies ever perpetrated. You learn that this society has been keeping the health benefits of avocados a secret to the general public. At the end of the commercial, the leader of the group calls out a member who’s holding up his cell phone to livestream the meeting.

The whole commercial was pretty hilarious, but this moment was the punchline. We decided to focus the digital campaign on the livestreaming guy. The premise was simple: What if he lost his phone and someone found it?

So we created a website where you could interact with his lost cell phone in a completely realistic way. Everything on his phone – texts, voicemails, emails, music, etc. – was accessible on the site. And you could access it before, during and after the Super Bowl commercial.

What made this strategy so successful?

The punchline in the commercial hinged on a cell phone, which are particularly relatable to audiences because everyone spends so much time interacting on their phones. Livestreaming is also becoming increasingly popular, so that component was particularly timely. There was also the fact that the character made a funny faux pas with technology – something to which everyone, particularly older people, can relate.

In addition to reliability, we also wanted our campaign to have a lifespan that would extend beyond the timeframe of the Super Bowl. The #AvoSecrets website helped to accomplish this by giving audiences an experience quite different from anything they’ve likely encountered. It was memorable. And it shows that a smart collaboration between campaigns built on different mediums can produce results far greater than the sum of the parts.

We also were lucky enough to be working with a client who was willing to trust an unorthodox idea. She was open-minded and able to see the talent of the creative, and ultimately she decided to take a calculated risk. It paid off for everyone.

#AvoSecrets goes to show that many Hispanic creatives are developing innovative campaigns that reach massive audiences. They understand objectives. Their ideas aren’t just creative and unorthodox – they get big results.